Posted by Noel Flannery
on 29 Jun 2011. Filed under Politics, Top news.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

SNS: Who Did Slovakia Sell 90,000 Rifles to?

Andrej Danko (c) The Daily.sk

At a press conference on Monday, SNS vice-chairman Andrej Danko protested that the Slovak National Party (SNS) is vehemently opposed to the clearance of 90,000 surplus Czechoslovak assault rifles and any other military equipment.

“What’s shocking here is that guns worth over EUR 1 million were sold, while undoubtedly the most important information – the name of the country where they are heading, is not known! This is a scandalous and misleading deal by two ministries administered by the SaS party,” said Danko.

Referring to the current system as a complete farce, Danko relayed the demands of the SNS party for the government to establish a more transparent system when it comes to disposing of surplus military equipment and for the name of the recipient country to be made public.

The Sa VZ 58 p rifles that were sold to who knows who

The SNS is worried that the rifles may have been sold to some country in North Africa and then be used to kill innocent civilians. Some analysts hold the opinion that this might well be the case.

One wonders whether as a NATO member there should be total transparency about the destination of these weapons. Should it not be a prerequisite for the sale of any military equipment by a member state, given the current international climate?

The weapons in question strongly resemble the Russian AK47 and chamber the same 7.62×39 round as used in the Kalashnikov. On the exterior both rifles appear similar, but the mechanics of the vz.58 P. are not the same as the Kalashnikov. Regarding the destination of such a large number of weapons, one would imagine that it is a place where ammunition is widely available, given the fact that the vz.58 does not fire the NATO 7.62×51 round.

Drawing on Mr Danko’s comments about where and how these weapon might be used, who knows if they won’t end up being used against allied forces including Slovak troops serving with NATO in conflict regions now or in future.